American Advisory Board, LLC was founded for
the purpose of assembling pre-established outside advisory
boards and think tanks for various companies.

As companies are beginning to hire again, optimism grows as our country’s
economy looks to bounce back. Millions of companies who have achieved success
credit their advisory boards for a number of reasons:

Cutting
costs.

Research
and development.

Introducing
the company to viable clients and investors.

Eliminating
the feeling of isolation that comes with running
your own business.

American
Advisory Board, LLC believes
that these
pre-established boards do more than create greater vision for the company as
a whole. These boards add a tremendous amount of credibility when they consist
of successful, established and accomplished entrepreneurs, executives and professionals.

Our advisory boards are comprised of doctors, scientists, chemists, accountants,
financial planners, attorneys, engineers, architects and entrepreneurs.
Companies in the know realize that an advisory board can further aide an organization
by the members bringing their status or clout with them, hence increasing the
reputation and reach of that organization, while also adding to their own
reputation.

The board members also experience an increased level of comfort as he or she
will not have any fiduciary responsibility what-so-ever!

1. Compensate your advisory board members: Depending on whom you are
inviting to participate, and how involved you need them to be, compensation
may vary from just providing food to covering expenses, cash payments,
stock options, or combination of the four.

2. Determine the objective of your advisory board: Advisory boards can
be general in scope or targeted to specific markets, industries, or issues,
such as adapting new technology or going global. They provide timely
knowledge about trends and competitors, as well as identifying upcoming
political, legislative and regulatory developments. They can help you
enter new businesses and look at your own operation with an open mind.

3. Set expectations: When inviting a perspective member to join your
advisory board, lay down the ground rules about what is expected in terms
of time, responsibility and term of office. If advisory board members
plan to discuss private information, members should be notified that
they will be asked to fill our a confidentiality agreement.

4. Choose the right people: Of course, when forming an advisory board
you really need to understand its purpose, but you also need to know
what specific skill sets to seek. The general rule is to look for diverse
skills, expertise and experience. You want
members to be problem-solvers who are quick studies, have strong communication
skills, are open minded and most importantly, have the
ability to make decisions.

5. Ask for honesty: An advisory board must be open and frank, so don’t
be offended if you hear things you don’t like. Your board will
also suggest ways of correcting the problems they identify.

6. Consider alternative feedback methods: Getting the entire board
together might become difficult. Instead meet or have conference calls
with specific
members about
topics relevant to their expertise as needed. E-mail is a great way to
reach everyone and have them respond to you at their convenience.

7. Keep board members informed: Once they are on their board, keep
members excited about your business by giving updates at times when
you are not
soliciting their advice. The fact that they have agreed to be on your
board means that they believe in your company, so keeping them up to
date will help them be of greater value to you. Remember that these people
are evangelists for the company.

8. Respect your boards contributions: Don’t abuse or waste their
time. Listen to what the board says. Sometimes, a business executive
is so close to an issue that they can’t see the forest from the
trees. But remember, this isn’t a corporate board, so you don’t
have to do every little thing a board suggests. Ask yourself, does this
work for my company…am I comfortable with that…then make
a decision.

9. Get the most out of your advisory board meetings: Prepare for meetings
well in
advance. Choose a site that is comfortable and free of distractions.
Careful thought
should be given for developing and managing the meeting. Solicit input
for agendas and distribute important information ahead of time. Run the
session as you would any important meeting and follow it with an action
plan. The facilitator should know which experts to draw out and how to
stimulate the dialogue. He or she should be result oriented as ideas
without actions aren’t worth much. The minutes should be written
up and circulated to top management. The notes should include recommendations
on key issues.

Benefits of Participating on an Outside
Advisory Board

Compensation
may take the form of:

An
honorarium or fee paid for participating
in monthly live meetings or teleconference
calls.

Stock
options.

Travel
to live conferences in places like Florida,
Las Vegas, Atlantic City, etc. to meet company
officials and fellow board members.

Extend
your circle of business contacts and perhaps
develop new business and customers.

Contributing
to the development of a particular profession
or industry.